José María Cases Hernández (born 23 November 1986) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays for

Orihuela CF Orihuela Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Orihuela, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1993 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 3, holding home games at '' Estadio Municipal Los Arcos'', with a capacity of 7,000 se ...

as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Born in

Orihuela Orihuela (; ca-valencia, Oriola ) is a city and municipality located at the feet of the Sierra de Orihuela mountains in the province of Alicante, Spain. The city of Orihuela had a population of 33,943 inhabitants at the beginning of 2013. The mu ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

, Cases finished his development at

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

and started competing as a senior with the reserves in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

. He made his professional debut at 16 on 22 June 2003, playing 28 minutes as a substitute for Héctor Font in a 4–1

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

home loss to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

; over the next two seasons, he played only three more times for the ''Yellow Submarine'', all off the bench, including once in the 2004–05 edition of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. Cases spent the following campaign at

Terrassa FC Terrassa Futbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Terrassa, Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1906 it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3, holding home matches at ''Estadi Olímpic de Terras ...

in Segunda División B, before joining his hometown club

also in that level. On 15 June 2008, he signed a two-year deal at Segunda División's

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

on the expiration of his contract, despite having a previous agreement to join

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...

when free. He started in 13 of his appearances for the Basques, who suffered relegation. Cases subsequently had a year at

Valencia CF Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group ...

, who fell into the fourth division, before returning to Orihuela. He was bought by

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

in summer 2012, being successively loaned to Cádiz CF,

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División, holding home matches at ''Es ...

, and

CD Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1928 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games in '' Estadio El Collao'', with a 4,850-sea ...

. On 22 June 2013, Cases moved abroad for the first time, signing for Panthrakikos F.C. in the Superleague Greece. He switched countries again on 2 August 2015, when he agreed to a two-year deal with K.A.S. Eupen of the Belgian Second Division. On 13 September, four minutes after replacing countryman Víctor Curto, he received a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

in an eventual 4–1 home loss to Lierse SK, but his two-match suspension was rescinded on appeal. On 22 September 2017, 30-year-old Cases joined Doxa Drama F.C. in the Greek second level.

Personal life

Cases' older brother, Manuel, played in the same position for five teams including Orihuela, never any higher than the third tier.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cases, Jose Maria 1986 births Living people People from Orihuela Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players Terrassa FC footballers Orihuela CF players SD Eibar footballers Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Granada CF footballers Cádiz CF players CD Mirandés footballers CD Alcoyano footballers Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Panthrakikos F.C. players Doxa Drama F.C. players Belgian Pro League players Belgian First Division B players K.A.S. Eupen players Spain youth international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Belgium Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium